Expression and prognostic value of vascular endothelial growth factor and microvessel density in human bladder cancer

Objective:To investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the microvessel density (MVD) in bladder cancer and its relation with the clinicopathological features and prognosis.Methods:The vascular endothelial growth factor expression and the microvessel density were examined by immunohistochemical staining in surgical specimens of patients with bladder cancer.Results:The positive expression rate of VEGF was 63. A close correlation was presented between microvessel density and VEGF positivity (P0.01).VEGF expression was significantly related with the infiltrative growth pattern, hemotravel metastasis and lymph node of bladder cancer (P0.05,P0.01). Moreover , patients with VEGF-positive bladder cancer had a significantly higher recurrence rate and poorer prognosis than those with VEGF-negative ones. Multivariate analysis indicated that the expression of VEGF and MVD are new prognostic factor in bladder cancer.Conclusions:The positive expression of VEGF and MVD was significantly related with tumor progression and poorer prognosis in bladder cancer, Quantification of VEGF and MVD may provide valuable markers for a poorer prognosis of patients.